Last year, London electronic producer Loraine James released Whatever The Weather II, the second album from her ambient alter-ego Whatever The Weather, and collaborated with artists like Purelink and Shapednoise. Today, James announces a new album called Detached From The Rest Of You, the first one released under her own name since 2023’s Gentle Confrontation.…
A new Blackened Death Metal entity has formed. Featuring veterans of the Milwaukee metal scene, RELIC is set to release debut EP, Crown of Flies, April 3 on CD and digital formats. The EP’s first single, “Scavengers Daughter,” is streaming now at youtu.be/JHYByItCdFE, as well as on Bandcamp and Ampwall. Delivering Death Metal’s dissonant punishing riffage with Black Metal’s relentless chaotic speed. RELIC builds […]
Metal heroines NERVOSA unleash a new single from their upcoming album, Slave Machine, out on April 3, 2026 via Napalm Records. “Ghost Notes” lets loose a storm of heavy, yet easily recognizable riffs, driven by impelling drums and the ever-so-furious vocals of Prika Amaral. Culminating in a powerful guitar solo, “Ghost Notes” shows yet another side of the versatile Brazilian thrash band. […]
Is Black Sabbath Getting A Full Classical Orchestra Tour In The UK?
Yes. Sharon Osbourne confirmed plans for a UK tour that will reinterpret Black Sabbath’s music with full orchestras, guitarists and immersive production.
TL;DR
Sharon Osbourne and Live Nation’s Andy Copping revealed plans at MIDEM 2026 for a UK orchestral Black Sabbath tour. The project, spearheaded by longtime keyboardist Adam Wakeman, will blend classical arrangements with live guitar performances and state-of-the-art visuals. The Royal Albert Hall is expected to serve as the launch venue before expanding nationwide.
Black Sabbath have been called heavy. Dark. Doom-laden.
But classical?
That’s the next chapter.
At MIDEM 2026 in Cannes, Sharon Osbourne confirmed plans to reinvent Black Sabbath’s catalog with full orchestral performances across the UK — starting, potentially, at the Royal Albert Hall.
The concept was developed by longtime Sabbath and Ozzy keyboardist Adam Wakeman, who toured with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath through their final era, including the emotional Back To The Beginning show at Villa Park in Birmingham.
Wakeman has converted the band’s material into full classical compositions.
Not background strings.
Full orchestration.
Sharon made it clear the project won’t abandon the metal DNA.
“We need guitar players to come in at some point. You need that.”
The current plan includes approximately four guitarists performing alongside each local philharmonic orchestra. That means audiences will hear the classical arrangements — then feel the distortion cut through it.
Two sonic identities in one evening.
That’s not subtle.
Royal Albert Hall As The Launchpad
Royal Albert Hall is being eyed as the premiere venue before rolling the production across major UK cities, pairing with local orchestras in each location.
Live Nation’s Andy Copping described it as a “touring entity” with major scale potential.
He acknowledged the immediate skepticism.
“Black Sabbath and orchestra — is that gonna work?”
But that doubt isn’t new.
Copping pointed to The Black Sabbath Ballet as proof that the music can transcend its original frame. The ballet production layered choreography, interviews and thunderous soundtrack elements — and surprised even longtime fans.
This orchestral project aims to push even further.
A Tribute With Emotional Weight
In July 2025, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performed Sabbath material at Birmingham’s New Street station as a tribute to the late Sabbath frontman, who passed away just weeks after the farewell show at Villa Park.
That performance offered a glimpse of what this orchestral future might sound like.
Stripped of distortion, the compositions revealed something undeniable:
The songs hold.
The riffs survive translation.
That’s the mark of enduring writing.
Is This Reinvention Or Risk?
Here’s the real tension.
Black Sabbath built heavy metal’s blueprint. Down-tuned riffs. Ominous space. Raw volume.
Reimagining that foundation in symphonic form risks alienating purists.
But it also reframes Sabbath as something bigger than genre.
If this works, it positions their catalog alongside classical reinterpretations of composers whose work outlived their era.
If it doesn’t?
It becomes an experiment.
But Sharon doesn’t sound tentative.
“It’s very, very exciting.”
And given the production promises — state-of-the-art graphics, immersive sound systems, hybrid performances — this won’t be a polite seated recital.
Plans have been confirmed for a UK orchestral tour reinterpretation of Black Sabbath’s music, beginning potentially at the Royal Albert Hall.
Who Created The Classical Arrangements?
Adam Wakeman, longtime keyboardist for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, converted the music into classical compositions.
Will There Be Guitars In The Show?
Yes. The plan includes multiple guitarists performing alongside full orchestras to blend the original sound with the classical arrangements.
When Will The Tour Start?
Specific dates have not yet been announced, but Royal Albert Hall is expected to serve as the launch venue.
Black Sabbath Band Bio
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham in 1968 and are widely credited with pioneering heavy metal. With landmark albums like Paranoid and their 1970 self-titled debut, the band established a sonic blueprint defined by downtuned riffs, dark themes and thunderous rhythm. Their influence continues across multiple generations of rock and metal artists.
Danny Wimmer Presents has added another event to their huge 2026 calendar, and it’s a colliding of two worlds in a big way.
The event is called BLOOD4BLOOD and serves as a crossover between heavy metal and bare-knuckle boxing, specifically the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)
Taking place on May 06 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, it will consist of four band performances and four brawls.
The bands that will be playing are Slaughter To Prevail, Black Label Society, Crowbar and Malevolence, whilst the first confirmed fight will be between Alex Terrible and Cameron Delano. The other three fights are still to be confirmed.
Tickets will go on general sale from March 06 at 10am ET.
A pre-sale will begin on March 04 at 11am CT/5pm GMT, and can be accessed with the code ROCKSOUND. That can be used at this link.
This Friday, the dreamy Tuscon rockers Mute Swan will release their sophomore album Skin Slip, the last album they recorded before the death of their guitarist Tom Sloane. We’ve heard a bit of the record already with singles like “Hypnosis Tapes” and “Cocteau Swans,” and Mute Swan are churning out even more previews of what’s to…
Since 2022’s Warm Chris, Aldous Harding has stayed busy by collaborating with Perfume Genius, John Parish, and Sleaford Mods. Now the New Zealand-born, Wales-based singer-songwriter is announcing her fifth studio album, Train On The Island. Train On The Island was co-produced by John Parish at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, where they recorded 2017’s Party,…
Tokyo-based brutal death metal band SEEPING PROTOPLASM split open their forthcoming album ‘Repugnant Entanglement’ with the gut-spilling new single ‘Exposing the Guts’. ‘Exposing the Guts’ offers another preview of the eight-song album, which draws from the raw intensity of late ’90s brutal death metal while incorporating elements of grind, slam, and experimental extremity. ‘Repugnant Entanglement’ will be released on CD via Iron Fortress Records, […]
Butcher Babies‘ return with their powerful new single “Lost In Your Touch”, produced by Howard Benson. Blending emotional vulnerability with crushing intensity, the track — which marks the second release from Butcher Babies‘ forthcoming album via Judge & Jury Records — serves as a key chapter in an LP that functions as a deeply personal love letter to vocalist Heidi Shepherd‘s past reflecting on the experiences, relationships, heartbreaks, and hard-earned lessons that have shaped her over the last 25 years. It’s a record rooted in self-reflection and growth, honoring where she’s been while embracing the strength and clarity of who she has become today.
Heidi shares: “10 years ago, I watched the love of my life fall in love with someone else. I watched him fill my shoes with another girl’s touch. She slowly took my place in the late-night phone calls and early morning coffee. He replaced ‘us’ with her name on his lips. I bent between this new reality and the past that my body and heart so desperately wanted back.
“As I watched this unfold, I couldn’t help but wonder if they shared the same, deep emotional bond we once shared, and if ‘she gets lost in his touch like I do,’” she adds. “This song brings me back to those heartbreaking moments alone; reflecting, growing, and finding myself again. I don’t take a love like that for granted now. It’s special, and deserves to be put on a pedestal.
“Recording this song with Howard was really special. From the get-go, he understood the emotion and story behind the lyrics. We both knew this song was going to be special, and treated it with the emotional sensitivity needed to not just hear the song, but to feel it.”
Judge & Jury Records is a powerhouse record label and production company founded by multi-platinum producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Seether, Skillet, Of Mice & Men) and Neil Sanderson of Three Days Grace.
Benson and Sanderson meticulously crafted the instrumentation for Butcher Babies’ new LP at West Valley Recording Studios, Benson‘s studio in Woodland Hills, California.
Howard says about “Lost In Your Touch”: “I gravitated to this song immediately because of the vulnerability of the lyrics. To me, as a producer, if I can get lyrics like this that I know the vocalist will deliver — like Heidi delivers the emotions in this song — that’s so critical to the track connecting.”
